In many environments such as hospitals, clinics, and similar medical institutions, considerations of cleanliness are directly related to health concerns. The frequent use of disposable items, such as hypodermic needles, I.V. needles, razors, scalpel blades, tissues, and gloves, increases the need to guard against contamination. Once used, contaminated items can readily transmit disease. Hence, the proper handling, disposal, and dispensing of these types of items require particular care.
Various container systems for dispensing items and for disposing of medical wastes have been disclosed. One example of a secure container system composed of two containers, the second of which is mounted on the first such that the second can be laterally removed from the first when desired, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,057, issued to Hanifl et al. For mounting of the second container on the first, the second container includes opposite flanges extending outwardly from opposite edges of the container. A pair of spaced, parallel channels are located on the first container, with each of the channels being shaped and located to accommodate one of the flanges of the second container. A stop is provided on the first container for selectively preventing removal of the second container from the first container, the stop being positioned in a first orientation to lock the second container in place and in a second orientation to unlock the second container to permit its removal. The first container includes a door oriented generally perpendicular to the mounting location of the second container on the first. The first container may comprise a cabinet for disposal of sharps, gloves, and other similar litter. The second container is slotted for dispensing of surgical gloves which, when used, may be discarded into the first container. This system does not provide, however, for access to the second container when the door of the first container is closed. When the door is closed and latched, the two containers are secured together and cannot be separated.
Another example of a secure container system composed of two containers, the second of which is mounted on the first such that the second can be laterally removed from the first when desired, is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,303, issued to Mosior. The system represents an improvement over the system disclosed by Hanifl et al. and includes a first container, a second container, flanges, and channels formed in a bracket. As for the Hanifl et al. system, when the flanges of the Mosior device are slid into the upper pair of channels of the bracket, the door of the first container must be open.
When the flanges are slid into the lower pair of channels of the bracket, however, the door of the top container need not be open. The lower pair of channels allow access to the second container, regardless of whether the door of the top container is open. There is no stop preventing the second container from sliding away from the first container when the second container resides in the lower pair of channels. Thus, when a user pulls gloves, for example, out of a glove box (or second container) from a dispensing slot, the user is likely to exert a force on the glove box which may cause the glove box to slide unintentionally out of the lower pair of channels. This situation may prove problematic because the glove box must remain clean. If the glove box unintentionally slides out of channel and lands on the floor, there is the possibility that gloves located in the glove box may be so contaminated, because they fell on a dirty floor, that they may not be suitable for use in delicate medical situations. Detents temporarily hold the second container in place when installed in the lower channels. Such detents may have difficulty handling the stress of, for example, a hospital environment.
An example of a system for dispensing gloves is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,105 issued to Fischer. Fischer shows a glove box mounted to a wall-mounted stand. The mounting stand accommodates only a single glove box which rests on top of the stand. Moreover, this system may not provide sufficient ease in the detachment of the glove box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,751 issued to Klodt et al. shows an apparatus for stacking storage containers. A plurality of trays may be attached to a box. Each tray includes mounting structure at the top and bottom of the tray, so that any one of the trays may be suspended from the box or from the bottom of another tray. Thus, any number of trays may be stacked and hung from the box. A latch is provided, at the top of each tray, in each of the four corners. A rib is provided at the bottom of each tray. A tab at the top of each tray engages the rib in the bottom of an upper tray or the box. Two biasing members are provided for pushing the tab against the rib, so as to maintain a secure attachment. Each tray can accommodate a drawer. The storage container stacking system of Klodt et al. may not be suitable for environments such as a hospital where ease of access to containers, ease of detachment of containers, and the need to guard against contamination are of primary concern. The system for mounting containers according to the present invention overcomes the limitations, difficulties, and shortcomings of these conventional devices by providing a secure system for detachably mounting a container to a frame member, with ease of access to the container.